Inside Politics

Azimio ready to oversight Ruto team, Oparanya says

Monday, September 12th, 2022 07:00 | By
Wycliffe Oparanya
Former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya and Raila Odinga at a past function. PHOTO/PD/VIOLA KOSOME

Immediate former Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya says the Azimio Coalition has accepted the outcome of the August 9 elections and is ready to take up the Opposition role.

 Oparanya said the Azimio leadership would soon call for a meeting of all elected governors, MPs and affiliate party leaders to plan how to have a vibrant Opposition to effectively perform the watchdog role and put the Kenya Kwanza government on check to deliver on their promises to Kenyans.

 He said Azimio would form the Shadow Cabinet as part of its preparations to have a formidable and “hawk-eyed Opposition that Kenyans have been missing for the last decade.”

 Addressing the press at his Likuyani home on Saturday, Oparanya demanded that the Office of Leader of Opposition should be properly recognised and funded by the government as one way of ensuring that the country has a formidable Opposition to ensure checks and balances in the structures of the government.

 “We want the proposal in BBI on restructuring and funding of the Office of the Leader of Opposition be implemented by the new government as a measure aimed at making the entity strong and stable enough to discharge its watchdog role effectively,” he said.

 He noted that the President-elect William Ruto had promised Kenyans that he would prefer working under supervision of the Official Leader of Opposition and that he should live to his word by funding the office. The outgoing county chief took a swipe at Azimio leaders trooping to Kenya Kwanza terming the move as “an electoral fraud”.

 “You can not be talking of Azimio this week and next week cross over to Kenya Kwanza just because you are being driven by greed for favours from the incoming government,” said Oparanya.

 He urged Ruto to stop enticing Azimio leaders with promises to ditch Opposition for his side saying the move amounted to returning the country to the one-party rule era. He said the President-elect was going against the constitution that he is supposed to protect by “buying” Opposition leaders.

Nyanza counties

Meanwhile, political leaders under the Azimio la Umoja one Kenya alliance in Kisii and Nyamira counties have been asked to unite and strengthen the opposition to enhance checks and balances in the incoming government.

Former South West Kenya Law Society of Kenya (LSK) chairman, Dennis Nyatundo said the mass exodus by the Azimio la Umoja leaders to Kenya Kwanza alliance, is worrying and poses a threat to democracy and good governance.He said the country needs a strong opposition and challenged the Azimio la Umoja leaders- losers and winners- in the last poll to be patient and stick to the opposition to play their roles to foster good governance and leadership.

“ We need to have a strong opposition to keep the government on toes so that the leaders do not embrace the culture of impunity and abuse power” Nyatundo told People Daily.

His remarks barely three days after former Kisii county governor, an ally of former Prime Minister, Raila Odinga led a delegation of leaders from Kisii and Nyamira counties to Ruto’s Karen home, eliciting mixed reactions.

Wiper Democratic Party leader Kalonzo Musyoka has urged leaders elected through the party ticket to remain loyal.

Kalonzo who was speaking after attending a funeral service of the late Priscilla Mwanziu, grandmother to Mwingi Central MP Gideon Mulyungi, urged all the elected leaders under the Wiper Democratic Party to observe allegiance to the party.

“I urge all the elected leaders to remain loyal to this party, you must diligently also serve the people who elected you to the office as that is your core mandate,” says Kalonzo.

Stories by Dennis Lumiti, Mutuku Mwangangi and Robert Ochoro

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